Sherry Noik, QMI Agency

A Canadian fisherman hooked an 18-foot great white shark in the waters off Florida.

Fab Marchese, of Ancaster, Ont., ached all over after fighting for three hours to hold on to the creature that weighed between 2,500 and 3,000 lbs.

"I paid the price," he told QMI Agency Wednesday. "My ribs, my arms ... my hands were cramped up ... I held on for life. It was unbelievable the pressure from that fish."

The 45-year-old owner of a contracting company and some of his friends took a deep-sea charter on Go Fast Fishing Charters last Friday, about 48 kms off the coast of St. Petersburg. After noticing the fish had stopped biting, they spotted the "big dark shadow" of the great white below them.

It rejected the bait once, but five or 10 minutes later grabbed hold, and Marchese braced for battle.